Celebrating International Cooperation between ESA and NASA!

Yesterday evening, I was attending, with most of the Google Lunar X PRIZE staff, a reception at the French Ambassador's Residence celebrating "25 years of European human space flight with NASA" co-organized by CNES, DLR and ESA.It was a great opportunity to hear the views on human spaceflight and international cooperation from several key players, such as NASA Administrator or ESA astronauts.After a rapid introduction speech by the Ambassador of France to the United-States Pierre Vimont and the German Ambassador to the United-States Dr. Klaus Scharioth, Michael Griffin gave a brief but very inspiring talk on the importance of human spaceflight and exploration, and I personally think he made a huge point claiming that human exploration of space just for the sake of it is a self-contained worthwhile goal:

It is time for the proponents of human spaceflight to stop apologizing for advocating human spaceflight instead of pure science. To expand the reach and capabilities of human life is an equally noble goal.Michael Griffin, NASA Administrator

We and the next generation are challenged to improve on what our ancestors - the great explorers like Columbus, De Gama and Amundsen - did with their more primitive tools. I believe that means exploring the Moon and Mars.Ulf Merbold, ESA Astronaut

A few moments ago, someone asked me, what did I think was the most amazing thing in space? And I must say that the answer appeared obviously to me: the most amazing thing in space is that everything is working!Leopold Eyharts, ESA Astronaut

Today, we announce that after close consultation with our teams over the last few months, that there will not be a launch attempt by our March 31st, 2018 deadline, and the grand prize of the $30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE will go unclaimed.

While we are disappointed at the result, XPRIZE is exploring a number of ways to proceed from here, and we are proud of the impact that the Google Lunar XPRIZE has achieved to date. Stay tuned for exciting updates in the near future.